Many home brewers prefer using plate chillers to cool their wort, mainly because they’re relatively small size and excellent efficiency. If you think that a plate chiller is right for you, you might want to consider the Shirron Plate Wort Chiller from MoreBeer! This compact chiller features 11 stainless steel plates fused together with copper solder, creating an incredibly durable base that is truly made to last.

This chiller features small channels that weave their way across the surface of each of the 11 plates, creating more surface area for the wort to travel over in order to cool it down more thoroughly. There are two ½ inch male pipe threads for the wort inlet and outlet, while the water in and out is a ¾ inch male garden hose thread.

Using a plate chiller requires thorough cleaning. Most brewers recommend back flushing the chiller immediately after use.

If you're serious about brewing; and who isn't.... get this plate chiller

I've been brewing for about 7 years and still used the immersion stainless coils I bought when I started. Folks, I gotta tell you; this plate chiller will change your life. You'll be happier, you'll quit snapping at co-workers, you may even become a nicer person. Plus.... the chill time drops like a rock. 10 minutes... 15 tops for a 5 gallon batch.Don't forget the pump...

I love using this over a my immersion chiller. I chill 5 gallons and the wort goes from my kettle at 200 degrees into my fermenter at under 70 degrees, just have to tweak the flow a little to get it just right. One my best homebrewing purchases.

I have had this chiller for about two years. I have never had a problem which any kind of buildup or gunk of any kind. The key is to always back flush immediately after brewing. As soon as I get done chilling and I'm transferring the wort into the fermntor I just hook up the hose and let it backflush for about ten minutes. After I clean my kettle I let all of the PBW run through it as well. I always bake it as well. I have ran hop material through it and it has never gotten clogged. I have compared this one as well as some of the 40 plate chillers and it seems like the channels inside of this one may be a bit wider and that might account for being able to run particulate matter through it.

It chills very fast and I have used it both with gravity and pump setups. The best setup I have found so far is to have it hooked up with a pump and return the chilled wort back to the top of the kettle and let it come back in at an angle so it creates a whirlpool. It allows you to cool the entire mass of the wort at one time instead of letting the bulk of the wort sit at a higher temp for so long. Definitely cuts down on any DMS that may form. The whirlpool also helps to keep most of the debris from getting sucked into the chiller. I cool a ten gallon batch down to ground water temp in about 7-10 minutes and bring the temp down below the temperature for DMS formation in under 90 seconds.

It's just easy to chill your wort with this baby. Hook it up to your garden hose and let it do the job. Or, if you want to be faster, dump it into a bucket full of water and ice and it will do an even better job. Also easy to clean and sanitize.... Just backflush with you preferred sanitizer and then, cook it in your oven for 30min.